Minze
by Drowning in Ice
Summary: Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.


Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters. What retard thinks I do?

I now present to you a Marluxia drabble, inspired by the recent germination of my own herbs. That just goes to show you how easily inspired I am. And because artful Marly fics are starting to run low.

And I noticed when I finished that this is pairingless! Go me!

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Marluxia opened a portal into the abandoned greenhouse. As it had been left alone in this world by its former inhabitants and there seemed to be no kind of human settlement nearby, it made the perfect nursery for Marluxia's seedling plants before they were transferred to his gardens.

Marluxia was a man of extravagance, and one garden, no matter how extensive, would never be enough for him. He had several gardens of several different functions on different worlds: flower gardens, herb-and-tea gardens, vegetable gardens, and so forth. It was at this central nursery that seedlings too delicate to be left alone in the wild were cultivated.

Of course, Marluxia could make them grow to their desired sizes with his powers if he wanted, but aside from wanting the Superior's head on a platter, he was a man of integrity. Forcing the plants to grow with his powers would defeat the purpose of gardening and ruin the merit of his personal Edens. If the gardens were not displays of his hard work and an extension of his self-proclaimed omnipotence and divinity, well then was the point?

He removed his hood, confident that no one would find him here. He looked into one flowerpot, expecting to see a new baby plant peeking out of the dirt. Instead, he saw only the flat, undisturbed surface of dark-colored humus. He stepped forward to the next flowerpot and saw the same, and in the next, and in the following one.

Surveying each container of soil, he walked down long row after row of flowerpots of various plant seeds. None had sprouted yet, and it was beginning to piss him off. Even the seeds that were meant to sprout rapidly were taking forever to germinate.

Marluxia always had a natural affinity for plants, even as a human. It only multiplied after he lost his heart, and flowers just seemed to like him. Was he losing his touch?

It seemed a likely answer as he continued to walk down each row of flowerpots, filled only with black soil and seeds yet to grow. He scrutinized each with the anxiety of a man whose wife was in the final few days of her pregnancy.

_Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished,_ he reminded himself.

He sighed, accepting the fact that his inherent splendor was not enough to rouse seeds from their dormancy. Nature was to be tamed by no one, including even her favored child. Using his elemental powers would not be cooperating with his mother, but instead, simply toying with the end of her dress. Perhaps in another week, or whenever he completed his next mission, he could come check on them again.

Marluxia completed his check-up on the nursery and found no new growths. He opened a portal to return to The World That Never Was promptly in case he was to be assigned a mission soon. He gave a final glance before noticing something he previously missed. Marluxia closed the portal and approached a nearby flowerpot. Leaning over it and slightly narrowing his eyes, he saw a tiny speck of green.

It was not a proud young soldier standing up firmly in the middle of its container with its new leaves open to receive the sun. It was a frail little thing: a stem no thicker than sewing thread hunched over to the wall of the flowerpot, millimeter-long leaves still curled up. It was a sorry sight and barely there, but to Marluxia, it was faultless.

"Rise and shine, little warrior," he cooed to the sprout. He stroked the tiny thing carefully with his index finger as if he were caressing an underweight newborn baby.

After a moment of thinking, Marluxia remembered what he had planted there: mint. A small smile lit his features. This sprout was weak and fragile, but once it matured, with some extra water it would have the potential to reach its roots far and wide to take over large chunks of a garden if Marluxia was careless. It reminded him much of himself when he first became a Nobody.

"You may be an innocent, helpless creature now, but when you get a little older, you'll be quite the rebellious one." He straightened and reopened the portal. A small chuckle sounded before he added, "Just like me."

Marluxia lifted his hood back onto his head and stepped through, the image of that tiny metaphor of him still stuck in his mind. He could not help seeing himself as a plant reaching out with its roots and slowly strangling the _hell_ out of Xemnas. Mother Nature was some woman.


End file.
